Well, as you may have noticed, I haven’t posted in several days. This isn’t because I’ve been in frenzied cooking mode or because I’ve been on a warm, relaxing beach vacation (sadly). Nope, its because I’ve got another little project going that is food-related and whipped up for a good cause.
My sister and I started 2010love, a project created to inspire people to make a positive change in their own lives and the lives of others, starting now.
We are currently selling 100% organic tees on Etsy available in Men’s and Women’s sizes. Children and infant sizes are coming soon.
10% of t-shirt proceeds will be donated to Slow Food USA, an organization we hold close to our hearts. Slow Food USA envisions a world in which all people can eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet. www.slowfoodusa.org
So check it out! And I didn’t abandon the dessert project, I’ll update you on last week’s lemon cake soon!
Of the three recipes I’ve completed on my dessert challenge, this was by far the easiest. Somehow, despite the minimalism, I failed. What happened? I’m so sad.
As you’ll see in my previous post, I stocked up at the local Chinese grocery store last weekend in order to cook a delicious, three-course Thai meal. The menu: an appetizer of Crunchy Corn Fritters dipped in Sweet Chili Sauce, followed by Jungle Curry with Chicken and Sticky Rice and finally for dessert, a sweet Coconut Custard made simply with eggs, coconut milk, vanilla and sugar.
The recipe was followed exactly, from whisking to straining to baking in a pan partially filled with water. Yet, when the custards were pulled from the oven, they were still very… wet. And jiggly. Now, this happened with Dessert #2, my chocolate tart. When it was pulled from the oven it was supposed to “tremble” in the middle and would set while cooling; it did both perfectly. The custards didn’t really tremble, I suppose, it was more like sloshing, but we still had hope.
After cooling for 45 minutes or so, I dug in with a spoon and took a taste. The texture of the custard was kind of like slimy eggs, not the creamy ‘Creme-Brulee’ bite I was hoping for. This recipe did not call for torching the top either, so I was missing a sugary crunch. The flavor was… ok, but it was hard to get over the slimy egg-feel. It was sweet and vanillay, but lacking in the coconut department which was very disappointing. I ate several bites to see if it would magically improve, but after the fourth bite I gagged and put the ramekin down. Oh boy.
So, I went to bed feeling a little let down, but began to wonder… did I not bake them long enough? Were the eggs raw? I still had two custards left, could I put them in the oven again?
Well, the next morning that is just what I did and I have no idea if that is the thing to do or the move of a true amateur, probably the latter. I let those suckers sit in that oven for another 45 minutes and when I pulled them out, let them cool, and gave them another taste… still, slimy egg-feel.
I tossed the desserts and began to reflect, what could have gone wrong? The only thing I can come up with and am embarrassed to say it is, I used ‘lite’ coconut milk. The horror. This wasn’t intentional, it was just the kind of coconut milk I had in my pantry and I didn’t think much about the science of making a custard when it was dumped into the rest of the ingredients and whisked into a bubbly froth. It makes sense, though… the watery texture, the lack of coconutty flavor, the missing creme-ness…
So, needless to say, you live and learn. Due to my failure, I quickly rebounded and whipped up a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that turned out delicious. This means it will be a two-dessert week, as I am hosting a dinner party this coming Saturday. I have not yet decided on the dessert, but I am thinking something lemony or nutty. Suggestions are welcome.
Oh, and I will try the coconut custard again using the real deal milk… I’ll let you know.
So, I’m obsessed with Thai food. When I say obsessed, I mean I would literally eat it every single day if I could, but I can’t because my husband would divorce me for the lack of cheese in our culinary relationship. The beginning of my obsession happened in 1997, but that is a different story for another post. What I am talking about today is the fact that I am teaching myself to cook Thai food so I can have it whenever I like, as delicious as they make it in authentic Thai restaurants, forever and ever and ever. Amen.
There are plenty of books, blogs, and websites that can confidently guide you as an apprentice of Thai cooking and cuisine. I am currently building a list of these, and will provide them.. again, in another post on another day. The challenge is finding some of the ingredients that authentic Thai recipes call for. Galangal, Kaffir lime leaf, various curry and fish pastes, snake beans, and Daikon just to name a few. Most cities have gourmet shops that carry these specialty items or entire ethnic neighborhoods, like Chinatown and Little Korea, where you can travel to and find everything you need to stock your pantry. Small town groceries usually do not carry ingredients such as these and online purchasing or a day trip to the closest specialty store may be needed.
As for my town; we have an abundance of Thai food restaurants close by (which are curiously much more expensive than New York City Thai restaurants) and many specialty shops including a huge Chinese grocery in East Hanover, NJ called Kam Man Foods. Now, I have been eying this store for months, and only entered for the first time this past weekend. As for my first impression, all I can say is… woo-hoo.
The store is huge and bustling with Asian families. One side is a full-service restaurant, serving up every Chinese dish you can imagine, including Beef Tendon Stew which apparently is thought to improve leg strength if eaten but scarily looks like, well, tendons. The middle of the store holds rows and rows of packaged Asian goods from teas and spices to a million types of noodles and smooshed, dried squid. The other side is a fresh fish market, butcher and produce section with crazy big fish and packages of fancy mushrooms that are so cheap I held them up in the air and said, “hey, look how cheap these mushrooms are!” Don’t do that, by the way.
The place is nothing more than the norm to most Asian folk who cook their delicious cuisine on a daily basis. But to someone like me, a novice and admirer, it is a wonderland of flavors, sights, scents and people-watching that I truly crave and adore. I can get lost in places like this… exploring ingredients, looking at packaging and dreaming up my next meal. It’s way better than Disneyland. Check out some of my pics and look for my future Thai Food posts.
My second attempt at making dessert from scratch was a success. Success isn’t the word, actually, it was more like… bliss. Chocolately, decadent, creamy, sweet-with-a-twinge-of-salty, perfectly-sliceable and buttery, flaky bliss. The end result of a somewhat time-consuming yet simple recipe tasted and looked like a dessert I never thought I could make. In fact, it tasted even better because I did make it. That is the beauty of pushing your cooking boundaries.
The recipe came from a cookbook I received as a wedding gift called The Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford. I’ve used this cookbook for many other recipes but I’ve always avoided the dessert section, particularly anything dealing with a “crust” or “crust-like” feature. Now don’t get me wrong, I like crust, especially pizza crust… but making a pie crust has always intimidated me. It just seemed so involved, fragile and frankly, like a pain in the ass. And since pie (and pastries for that matter) are down on the list of favorite sweet things for me, I’ve just always kept the book closed on crust… until now. Recently, while poking around in my local Williams-Sonoma store, I spotted a tart pan and decided it was time to face my fear.
I chose to make a tart over a pie for two reasons: 1) I like the word tart better and 2) I think they are prettier than pies. It’s as simple as that. The truth is, I didn’t even really know what the difference was between the two except for a different type of pan which allows a tart’s crust to be exposed in all its fluted glory. Turns out this is the main difference, yaay me.
So a chocolate tart was the way to go for obvious reasons. The entire process went smoothly except for a few moments when placing the dough into the tart pan. There was thinning, and tearing and… I started to breathe heavy. But alas, I found that you could just smoosh it all together and who would know? With a little artistic touch, everything began to look very professional. I also learned about blind-baking, tenderly folding chocolate into warmed, heavy cream and eggs and finally… whipped cream with liqueur.
Can anyone tell me why I have not made homemade, fresh, whipped cream before? The stuff can be eaten on its own by the spoonful, it is so delicious, and when topped off with a dash of Kaluha or Grand Marnier… heaven help you.
Anyway, I put everything together, let the tart cool and around 9pm on a Sunday evening dove into a dessert completely worth waiting for. I smiled, my husband smiled and it was a very quiet several minutes.
Next stop: Coconut Custard!
Silken Chocolate Tart
serves 8
1 Recipe flaky pie crust of your choice or 1 frozen pastry circle or sheet for 9″ tart pan
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz high quality semi-sweet chocolate roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp liqueur of choice, plus more if desired
cocoa powder for dusting
To make the tart, position rack in center of oven. If using homemade pie crust, bake it blind as directed. If using frozen pastry circle or sheet, let thaw slightly and mold into 9″ tart pan. Prebake as directed and transfer to a wire rack for cooling.
Adjust oven to 350 degrees.
Bring cream to simmer in sauce pan over medium heat. (Not too hot or you’ll curdle!) Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate until smooth. Add vanilla and kosher salt until incorporated. Let cool. Whisk in eggs until it looks silken and delicious. Pour into tart shell while resisting putting your tongue under the flow. Bake until middle trembles with delight when shaken, about 20-25 min. Transfer to wire rack and cool at least 30 min before serving.
Just before serving, make the whipped cream. Combine the cream, sugar and liqueur in your good ol’ Kitcheaid stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. The cream should slowly fall forward when whisk is lifted. Alternatively, a hand mixer will work just as well. Add more liqueur if you want to and you know you do. I used Kaluha.
Recipe adapted from Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook
I feel extremely fortunate to be able to cook and eat not only for nourishment, but for fun. Sometimes things happen in life that truly put things into perspective. Please take a moment to spend a portion of your lunch or grocery money to help people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Customers of participating wireless carriers can text message “HAITI” to 90999 and make a $10 donation to support the American Red Cross Haiti relief efforts. For more information, click here.
My first week of dessert-making went great! I made Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Icing from a recipe I found in Gourmet magazine… and it didn’t even have a picture.
Why did I choose this as my first dessert challenge? Well, besides chocolate, which reigns supreme among sweet things and most things for me, I adore holiday spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and clove. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is actually a very, very close second… right below all things chocolate.
So, this recipe is a simple, smaller version of carrot cake with some educational, culinary opportunities. First, the icing is more of a glaze, which I’ve never made before. Consisting of only sugar, orange juice and orange zest, it is amazingly delicious and flavorful. Not the usual thick stack of sugary, buttery cupcake icing, it just coats the cake adding moistness and tangy sweetness. The flecks of orange zest are my favorite part because it makes the cupcake look so festive and happy.
Second: Candied Carrot Curls. I have never candied anything, and certainly didn’t realize it was so easy and creatively satisfying. Within half an hour, I had perfect curly, carrot cupcake decor, worthy of a bakery on Bleeker Street. The curls that didn’t make it off the baking sheet were crumbled and sprinkled on the cakes, adding an extra flavorful crunch to each bite.
Of course, I did alter the recipe a bit. I added 2-3 tablespoons of ground flax seed and a 1/4 cup of raisins. Why? Because they were in my refrigerator and they are good for you. I also love the chewiness of raisins in oatmeal, cakes and cookies
Summary: This is a delicious, fun and very easy recipe to make, even with the candied carrot curls. However, the next time I make these cupcakes I will add a tiny bit of crushed walnuts or pecans and a small amount of applesauce to compensate for the extra dry ingredient.
Next stop… Chocolate tart….
Carrot Cupcake Ingredients
- 4 medium carrots
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- *2 tablespoons ground flax seed optional
- *1/4 – 1/2 cup raisins optional
- * handful of crushed walnuts or pecans optional
For icing
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners/powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups; 12 paper liners
Garnish: Candied Carrot Curls
Make cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Line muffin cups with paper liners.
Coarsely grate enough carrots to measure 2 cups using large holes of a box grater.
Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a bowl.
Mix together oil, eggs, brown sugar, grated carrots, and vanilla in a large bowl, then stir in flour mixture until just combined.
Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcake; it should come out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on rack, about 1 hour more.
Make icing:
Sift confectioners sugar into a bowl. Whisk in zest and 2 tablespoons juice until smooth. If icing is too thick, add more juice, 1 teaspoon at a time. Dip top of each cupcake into icing, letting excess drip off. (Be sure to do this or you will have a sticky mess) Place a carrot curl on top of each and let icing set, about 15 minutes. Crush up imperfect carrot curls and use as sprinkles.
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine, Nov. 2007
Food is magical, isn’t it? It can instantly transport you to a poignant memory or a land far, far away. I particularly enjoy the far-away-land aspect because these days our traveling has been cut down quite a bit. Ahh, kids.
So when my sister-in-law gave me a slew of authentic Turkish ingredients for Christmas, I was thrilled to go on my next cooking adventure.
One of the gifts I received was a package of Sumac (also Sumack, Sumach.) Now, I am certain I’ve tasted Sumac in many of the meals I’ve consumed at Middle Eastern restaurants over the years, but I never really paid attention to the intricate flavors within each meal. I just ate it. And it was good.
In fact, how often do you taste the spices that you cook with before they are added to the dish? When I looked at the package of Sumac I thought, ‘mmmm, Sumac!’, but really I had no idea what it tasted like or how to use it. So I decided to investigate.
The non-poisonous species of Sumac (Rhus coriaria) that we consume comes from a plant indigenous to the Mediterranean region. The plant produces small, red fruits that are dried and crushed to form a beautiful, reddish-purple spice commonly used in cuisine throughout Greece, Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East.
But what does it taste like? Well, I stuck my finger in the stuff and took a lick of it. To my surprise, it was light, refreshing and tangy. By the looks of it, you would think the flavor would be richer, earthier, even spicy. It actually tastes like dried lemon flakes if there is such a taste. This makes sense as the seasoning has been used as a souring agent in dishes like kebabs, hummus, salads and even lemonade-like beverages for centuries.
Finding Sumac at your local grocery is the tricky part. If they don’t carry the spice it usually can be found at smaller, gourmet food shops, Middle Eastern stores or even online like here.
So that’s the smack on Sumac. I hope your cooking will take you some place wonderful…
So its a new decade and with that comes my mile-long list of resolutions. Year after year I promise myself to consistently partake in the typical get-healthy/get-organized activities and year after year I fail miserably. Until last year, that is, when I decided to add something fairly simple and attainable to my resolution list along with the larger, life-altering commitments.
Last year I vowed to make my bed… everyday. And this is the first resolution I’ve ever kept. Well, okay there have been a couple of days where I just pulled the covers up, but generally speaking, I accomplished something that may seem trivial to most, but in fact has made me feel one step closer to ‘completely organized’ and therefore very happy.
I have a point, or three. The point is, I’ve realized that small things count, and baby steps towards anything are still steps. I also understand that accomplishing smaller goals just feeds the fuel for accomplishing the larger ones. Lastly, if it doesn’t work for you, change it.
So this year, my resolutions are different and so is my mindset. I won’t bore you with the entirety of my list, but I will tell you that I’m banishing the notorious ‘eat less sweets’ resolution, and doing quite the opposite, embracing dessert!
I have always had a sweet tooth, but can honestly say that I haven’t baked much more than a Betty Crocker cake and a roll of Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. Most of my dessert consumption consists of mini chocolate bars, spoonfuls of Ben & Jerry’s from the carton and cakes, pies, cookies that others have so generously given me or served to me at a restaurant. However, it’s time for that to change.
I’m taking on a challenge to learn to… bake? Or shall I say, make dessert, since not all sweet deliciousness comes from the oven. I want to try it all… soufflé, flan, mousse, torte!… yet I do realize, this may just be something that I truly loathe, and therefore shouldn’t over-dedicate to the cyber-world, even if it is only a few readers who would notice.
Therefore, I’m giving myself through the month of January. Once a week, I will prepare a dessert from scratch and happily eat it. If things go well, I may just continue this challenge and let you hear all about the sugary details. If it doesn’t go well, we’ll all just forget it happened and quietly move ahead. I’ll still be posting tidbits on other food-related happenings, so check that out too.
First stop, carrot cupcakes with orange icing. Wish me luck!
I could sit here and explain how busy the last several months of 2009 were and make excuses about how I just didn’t have ‘time’ to keep up with my work, family, holiday planning and blog. I could also try to recap the amazing-yet-over-planned Thanksgiving menu I devised and describe in detail the Pancetta-Sage Turkey recipe that was quite possibly the best ever, applied to a fresh turkey from Griggstown Quail Farm and Market in Princeton, NJ.
But I’m not going to do that. Just like I’m not going to tell you about my sister-in-law and her husband whipping up an authentic Turkish meal in my kitchen or traveling to Louisville, Kentucky where I ate Rabbit Pate at Proof on Main and drank my first Bourbon in about 10 years.
It is also not important to share the description of my sister’s mind-blowing, rich-with-love Coq au Vin, Dad’s blue cheese-stuffed olives dripping with Bloody Mary, Mom’s chunky, nutty, oh-so-sweet Apple Spice Cake, or my mother-in-law’s heavenly Lamb Meatballs that just kept creeping onto my plate, all of which were consumed during the twelve days leading up to Christmas (and this is only a fraction of the eating that occurred during that time.)
What I will tell you is that despite the craziness that the holidays bring, it has been a wonderful time to share, eat, love and reflect on the past year. I’ve been inspired, blessed and humbled in 2009 and am looking forward to fascinating and tasty 2010 with much more Poetic Food!
Thank you for all of your support and interest and have a Happy, Healthy New Year!
(Keep visiting!)
Nice cover design, too.
Food for thought… I saw Jonathan Safran Foer on Ellen yesterday; I caught the end of his interview and was suddenly feeling afraid… of everything. Then I woke up this morning and my good friend sent me this link to an article he wrote for the New York Times. Needless to say, I’m interested and know I have to read this book. I am a meat-eater, always have been. But perhaps that is simply because it’s easier to be the way you’ve always been. Or as Jonathan puts it, “To give up the taste of sushi, turkey or chicken is a loss that extends beyond giving up a pleasurable eating experience. Changing what we eat and letting tastes fade from memory create a kind of cultural loss, a forgetting.”
Either way, if you’d rather avoid the book, at least read the article. This is exactly what PoeticFood is about: the meaningful stories food creates in our lives. To eat meat or not to eat meat, that is a question and ultimately a story, for you to answer and write for yourself.
